Hold for more details/PHL joins Belt & Road News Alliance

BEIJING, May 15 (PNA) – A Belt and Road News Alliance that includes the Philippines has been formally launched during the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation here.

Tong Gang, vice minister of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television of China joined representatives from the Philippines, Mongolia, Romania and Ukraine in rolling-out the alliance called ‘Belt and Road’ Video News Cooperation Network during Saturday’s People-to-People Connectivity session.

Aside from news alliance, 15 other people-to-people cooperation agreements in the field of education, culture, health and science and technology have been presented during the session attended by over 500 officials and representatives from Asia, Europe and Africa.

Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee international department vice minister Guo Yezhou said the Belt and Road Initiative has received positive response from over 100 countries and international organizations since it was initiated by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013.

”We look forward to joining hands with you in carrying forward the legacy of the Silk Road Spirit and ushering in a new era of common development based on a win-win cooperation and shared thoughts and actions,” Guo said.

In the field of education, China has signed agreements with Russia, Laos, Bosnia, Cyprus and UNESCO or United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

In his opening ceremony speech, President Xi announced that the Chinese government will accept additional 10,000 foreign students under its scholarship program.

At present, China has a total of 30,000 foreign scholars, many of them are poor but deserving students from Africa.

”Educational cooperation should be boosted, more exchange students should be encouraged and the performance of cooperatively run schools should be enhanced,” President Xi said.

President Xi announced that China will provide RMB 60 billion (USD 8.7 billion) to developing countries and international organizations participating in the Belt and Road Initiative to launch more projects to improve people’s well-being.

Tourism industry is another sector that stands to benefit more since the Belt and Road Initiative will cover 70 percent of the world’s population.

”Tourism is the world’s largest sector with 1.5 billion tourists traveling in different parts of the world every day,” World Tourism Organization secretary-general Taleb Rifai said.

For the health sector, World Health Organization Fun Chun Margaret Chang Fung said Chinese Traditional Medicine will have a wider market under the Belt and Road Initiative.

”China has a lot of it. We need to modernize traditional Chinese medicines,” Chang Fung said.

The Belt & Road Initiative has so far generated 180,000 jobs in 56 economic cooperation zones in 20 countries along the Belt and Road routes.

”These fruitful outcomes show that the Belt and Road Initiative responds to the trend of the times, conforms to the law of development, and meets the people’s interest. It surely has broad prospects,” President Xi said.